"Hyah!"

A fast horse galloped along the official road and finally entered the city just as the gate was about to close; otherwise, it would have had to wait until dawn the next day.

The person on horseback was Su Chen. After more than a month since we’d last met, his face was full of weathering, and his skin had turned rather dark.

His eye sockets were deeply sunken. From a handsome young man living amid worldly chaos, he had transformed into a rugged fellow; the change was quite significant.

...

Inside the inn.

Lin Miao’s family was eating in the hall.

The sudden knock on the door startled everyone. Lin Mao went to open the door, seeing Su Chen, dusty from travel. He didn’t recognize him and hadn’t met him before, thinking the man wanted to stay at the inn, so he said, "Sir, our inn does not serve outsiders..."

"Lin Mao, quickly open the door and let him in; this is Su Chen, my sworn brother, Mr. Su." Lin Miao recognized Su Chen at a glance through the gap in the door.

Lin Mao hurriedly opened the door and let Su Chen in. Lin Miao then put down his chopsticks and stepped forward, examining him closely and directly giving him a big hug.

"Hahaha, Mr. Su, you’ve lost weight, but looking better, glad you’re well."

"Any food? I’ve traveled for a day without a drop of water or grain entering my mouth!" Su Chen grinned, showing that between brothers, niceties were unnecessary.

"Of course, plenty of wine and meat!"

Su Chen sat down at the table without reservation, picked up a chicken leg, and began to eat. In just a blink, a chicken leg was gone; he was truly hungry, not just for one day but for three.

The Su Family was indeed the wealthiest; when had anyone seen a young master eating like this, as if reincarnated from a starving ghost?

Etiquette only becomes those refined manners when you are well-fed.

Everyone else put down their chopsticks, staring at Su Chen eating alone, devouring everything ravenously.

If they didn’t know each other, they’d really think this once dapper young gentleman came from a beggar’s den.

The girls exchanged glances quietly.

"How many days has he gone without food?"

"At least three days."

"More than that, at least five days..."

"Five days without food makes one too weak; I’m dizzy if I skip a day’s meal!"

"Stop gossiping; Mr. Su is our honored guest. It doesn’t matter how much he eats." Sun Youwei reminded everyone with her gaze.

The authority of the lady of the house is established gradually, subtly.

"I’ll go fry a few more dishes for Mr. Su..." Luu Wan suddenly stood, feeling that with Su Chen’s eating, it surely wouldn’t be enough.

Martial artists withstand hunger but indeed can eat a lot and digest particularly fast. The food enters, the stomach churns, and half is digested, moving to the next cycle.

"Having eaten at so many houses, Sanshui’s cooking is still the best..." Su Chen, with a mouthful, praised Lin Miao’s great cooking while eating.

"If you like it, come over whenever you want to eat, just pay the share money." Lin Miao chuckled.

Lin Family dinners always included staple food; however, the girls, in order to maintain their figures, rarely ate much of it, so not much was prepared every night.

The staple tonight was noodles, which no one had eaten yet; now only Su Chen ate them fed well.

Hugging his round belly, Su Chen looked contented, finally understanding why the poor regard a full meal as life’s greatest joy.

The women cleaned up the aftermath while the little lesson was delayed.

Inside the study.

"Sanshui, brother, why have you moved house? If I hadn’t asked next door at Huaye Tower, I wouldn’t know you had moved here."

"I bought and remodeled that house, naturally couldn’t live there, had to move out?" Lin Miao brewed tea and handed it over.

"So that’s it, but staying in an inn is also good. Didn’t you book this entire inn?"

"Bought it."

"You’ve really made it; since when did you become so wealthy?"

"It’s all thanks to you, investing a sum of money, otherwise how could I afford so many properties?"

"That’s my investment; remember, you agreed, once we make profits, I get my share, or else my latter days won’t have a plan..." Su Chen sighed and said.

"Did you solve your family’s horse farm issue?"

"How did you know our farm had issues?" Su Chen sat up abruptly, staring at Lin Miao, "Few know about this; I never mentioned it to you?"

"Don’t forget I have two supervisors from Li Jing here."

"Mr. Jia told you?" Su Chen exclaimed in surprise, "Your relationship has gotten to such a point, he even told you this?"

"You also have your ears open well; I haven’t told you anything about them, it seems that you have always kept tabs on my side?"

"You’re my brother; how can I not pay attention to your affairs?" Su Chen said sheepishly, "Since you know it all, I won’t hide it; it’s quite tricky, although the cold of winter delayed the disease’s spread; once spring arrives and the weather warms, nobody knows what will happen."

"So, are there still horses being infected and falling sick?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Yes, the number is relatively small, much fewer than before, but in the worst times, more than a hundred horses were infected in a single day." When talking about the ranch, Su Chen’s face was filled with melancholy.

"Did you take any measures?"

"Of course we did, but it spread too quickly. Although we implemented isolation and buried the dead horses, the problem proved difficult to solve; eventually, we had to relocate the pasture and separate the sick horses from the healthy ones, but the results were minimal."

"Alright, tell me about the symptoms of this horse epidemic." Lin Miao nodded. He hadn’t been to the site and didn’t know how the Su Family was implementing the separation measures, so it was difficult to give suggestions.

"It’s suddenly inexplicable high fever, difficulty breathing, loss of appetite, poor mental state, and eye congestion. Generally, the horse dies five or six days after symptoms appear. The veterinarians at the ranch have tried various methods to no avail, including Mr. Jia, whom we invited for consultation but he couldn’t help either. It feels like we’re suffering divine wrath..." As he spoke, Su Chen’s voice became hoarse, and his eyes reddened.

No man dislikes galloping across the battlefield on a horse; the Su Family raises horses, and naturally, Su Chen has loved being with horses since childhood. Seeing so many good horses die like this, his heart aches; the Su Family has already suffered greatly from this "horse epidemic," significantly harming their vitality.

The first year, they barely managed to persevere, but the second and third years proved the hardest. How can the Su Family meet the court’s required quota of war horses?

If they fail to meet the quota, aside from facing penalties, there’s a risk of losing the imperial merchant status. Once this qualification is gone, many of the Su Family’s businesses will change hands; the privileges of being an imperial merchant are envied by many, and should they lose this status, Su Chen’s father’s lineage may be squeezed out of the main branch.

Once a situation of everyone pushing against a falling wall forms, the Su Family might disband.

In veterinary science, Lin Miao hasn’t delved deeply; it’s a highly complex discipline, no simpler than "curing humans."

However, he knows some basics. For instance, the "horse epidemic" is an infectious disease; on Blue Star in a past life, he had heard of a kind of horse epidemic, specifically African horse sickness. It’s transmitted through bites from horseflies, mosquitoes, and fleas, or by horses cohabiting, such as healthy horses drinking water with sick ones.

Moreover, it spreads very rapidly.

Contact with diseased horses without disinfecting can also spread it; the only upside being humans won’t catch it.

Based on Su Chen’s description, Lin Miao feels that the symptoms of the horse epidemic align closely with what he knows as "African horse sickness."

If the symptoms are the same, then treatment can be applied based on diagnosis.

He knows a remedy for "African horse sickness," but it requires a specific ingredient: pangolin scales.

This creature primarily lives in tropical and subtropical mountainous jungle or shrub regions; if Lanzhou is on a continent that’s also a sphere like Blue Star, it should belong to the subtropical edges.

The environment here is suitable for pangolins to survive; however, from what Lin Miao recalls, he didn’t seem to have encountered any while going up mountains collecting herbs and hunting with his master, Sun Simiao.

Furthermore, pangolins are nocturnal, so those who prefer daytime activities have fewer chances to encounter them.

In this world, pangolins aren’t endangered species yet, with considerable medicinal value, they will inevitably be discovered eventually.

"Mr. Su, I have a prescription that you can try, and I also have some advice that might help your Su Family."

"You have a prescription for treating the horse epidemic?" Su Chen’s eyes widened with surprise.

"There’s one ingredient in my prescription that you’ll need to find yourself," Lin Miao said seriously.

"Just tell me, as long as there’s a prescription." Su Chen immediately felt invigorated; no matter how far-fetched, he’s willing to try anything—what if it works?

Lin Miao unfolded a sheet of paper and wrote down five ingredients: pangolin scales, Danshen, Sanqi, roasted Rehmannia, and cinnabar.

He considered it for a moment and then annotated dosage and usage.

Su Chen glanced at it; he knew the latter four herbs and had seen them before, but didn’t know what pangolin was.

Hence, he asked.

Lin Miao explained briefly, and Su Chen quickly comprehended; Lin Miao was referring to "the anteater," though it had thick scales that were extraordinarily hard, matching its name quite well.

"Is this thing common?"

"It’s quite prevalent in the Southern Wilderness, though it’s far away; going back and forth would take half a year, likely too late. The Great Yue Country has many hills and jungles; I’ve seen related entries in their records. Legend has it, a former Great Yue monarch was fond of anteaters, raising many and prohibiting their capture."

"Can it be obtained?"

"Yes, it’s quite tough to catch and isn’t cheap, but if the medicine proves successful, and widespread treatment is needed, a substantial amount will be required. Regardless, it’s not more costly than losing war horses." Su Chen said.

Going to the Great Yue Country—this would be so convenient!

"Mr. Su, I have a business proposition I’d like to discuss with you," Lin Miao said slowly.

"Business? Didn’t I invest in your pastry shop already? Is there another business?" Su Chen asked suspiciously. Investing in a pastry shop doesn’t require much money, yet he took out all his personal savings.

He was investing not just in business but also in friendship—a friend who can assist in critical moments is worth any amount of money.

Lin Miao retrieved two crystal-clear glass cups from a secret compartment behind the aristocratic cabinet and placed them in front of Su Chen.

"Mr. Su, these are colorless glass cups; a pair of these is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver!" Being from a wealthy family, Su Chen’s insight is naturally extraordinary. Flabbergasted, he stood up and stared intently at Lin Miao’s glass cups, unable to avert his gaze.

Lin Miao, as if performing magic tricks, took out two more cups identical to the former ones, equally crystal-clear.

"This, this..." Su Chen’s eyes bulged with astonishment.

Then Lin Miao took out two more identical cups.

Six cups were lined up.

Su Chen’s eyes were dazzled.

"Mr. Su, wash up and change into clean clothes; I’ll take you somewhere and then we’ll discuss our business." Lin Miao smiled mysteriously.

"Oh, alright, alright..." Su Chen’s mind was captivated by the colorless glass cups; he could barely let go of them.